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Cybersecurity was one of a number of sensitive issues covered. The Obama administration is looking at options to confront Beijing over the issue, including trade sanctions, diplomatic pressure and indictments of Chinese nationals in U.S. courts.

Gen. Fang denied allegations that the army sponsors hacking against Western companies to steal commercial secrets. "None of these activities is tolerated here in China," he said at a news conference. If Internet security can't be guaranteed, "the damaging consequences may be as serious as a nuclear bomb."

ENLARGE

Gen. Fang Fenghui, right, and his U.S. counterpart Martin Dempsey inspect a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing Monday.
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He also suggested it was hard to trace the source of attacks, saying "the Internet is open to anyone, and anyone can launch attacks from the place where they live, from their own country or from another country." The general reiterated that China itself is a victim of cyberattacks. "We should jointly work on this," he said.

Meantime, Gen. Fang repeated the consistent Chinese line that North Korea's nuclear threat is best dealt with through negotiation, even though he said it was possible Pyongyang could conduct a fourth nuclear test despite U.N. sanctions that China helped draft following the latest test by China's close ally.

He urged restraint from all sides, comments suggesting Beijing thinks Washington as much as Pyongyang should take responsibility for calming tensions in North Asia.

Repeated Warnings

May 2012 U.S. provides detailed evidence to Chinese government of cyberespionage against U.S. companies.

February President Obama signs executive order to bolster cybersecurity.

Feb. 28 China's Ministry of Defense says two military websites were the targets of numerous cyberattacks in 2012, most originating in the U.S.

March 11 Mr. Donilon calls on China to investigate and stop cyberspying.

March 12 Director of National Intelligence James Clapper places cybersecurity at top of his list of national-security threats.

March 14 Mr. Obama raises cybersecurity in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

April 13 Secretary of State Kerry says the two countries will create a working group on cybersecurity.

Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to China this month, made little headway in trying to persuade Beijing to publicly rebuke North Korea after it threatened to attack U.S. and allied targets in North Asia and the Pacific.

The first face-to-face meeting between the two chiefs of staff was part of an effort to rebuild military-to-military ties between the U.S. and China that are strained by U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

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The Obama administration is considering a raft of options to confront China more aggressively over cyberspying, officials say, a potentially rapid escalation of a conflict the White House has only recently acknowledged. Siobhan Gorman reports. Photo: Getty.

Military relations have lagged behind other aspects of the engagement between the U.S. and China, whose economies are deeply entwined. There is a sense of strategic distrust between the two powers, as China becomes more assertive in Asia and as the U.S. refocuses its attention on the world's most economically dynamic region.

But Gen. Fang struck a conciliatory tone. "The Pacific Ocean is wide enough to accommodate us both," he said, though adding that each country should respect the other's "core interests." China's expansive interests in the region include a claim to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, which brings it into conflict with many of its smaller neighbors.

Gen. Fang said it is important for the two countries "to avoid vicious competition, friction, or even confrontation in this area."

Gen. Dempsey said the U.S. wants a "healthy, stable and reliable" military-to-military relations with China. "The U.S. is a Pacific power," he said, adding that Washington seeks to be a stabilizing presence in the region and "the absence of a U.S. presence would be destabilizing."

China believes the U.S. aims to contain China's rise in the world. It feels hemmed in by a string of U.S. military alliances in the region stretching from Japan all the way to Australia.

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